


Charges

by maryagrawatson



Series: Charges Universe [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Episode: s04e02 The Lying Detective, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-16 20:12:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9287939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maryagrawatson/pseuds/maryagrawatson
Summary: Lestrade does for Sherlock what he is unable to do for himself.





	1. Chapter 1

Lestrade has the shift after cake and he comes into 221B carrying a folder and looking grim.

“Do you know what I have here?” he asks without preamble.  
“No, what?” Sherlock asks from his chair, a little startled as he was starting to doze off from the combination of cake and his medication.  
“The report of your injuries sustained after John Watson beat the shit out of you. Again. Laceration and contusion to left eye, four cracked ribs, and you almost lost one of your kidneys that was already in bad shape before it was kicked repeatedly.”  
“I already told you —"

“No. You’re going to shut up and listen to me for once in your life. This is not how reasonable men settle differences. I warned John the last time this happened that there would be consequences if it happened again. You’re in no mind to press charges and I have sufficient evidence, so I am doing it on your behalf.”  
“What?!”  
“He’s being picked up as we speak. He’ll be booked, charge sheet, night in a cell the whole thing. He’s going to be offered the chance to attend anger management classes and to stay away from you for a period of time. If he fails to comply with those terms, I will see to it that he does time.”  
“You can’t do that! I mean, who will take care of Rosie?”  
“Pretty sure that between Mrs. Hudson, Molly, you, and me, we can manage.”

Lestrade’s voice softens as he sinks down into the red chair. “Sherlock, look at me.” Sherlock raises his gaze, his left eye still bright red and rimmed in yellow. “It’s one thing for two guys to have a scuffle. This wasn’t a scuffle. This was an assault. It was John deciding that you had no value as a human being.”

Sherlock is as shocked as if Lestrade had struck him. “But — but things are better. He doesn’t blame me for Mary anymore.”  
“This wasn’t about Mary. It was about the fact that John still doesn’t get why you jumped off that roof. Until he does and until he is prostrate in front of you thanking you for what you did for him and begging for forgiveness for being such a sorry sack of shit, I don’t want him near you. You’ve given him enough, Sherlock. I’m sorry, but John is not a good man and he has not been your friend in a very long time.

"I’ve known you for ten years now and it’s been a privilege to watch you grow up and learn to take responsibility for yourself and how your behaviour affects others. It’s been incredible to see Molly grow a spine and hold you accountable for your actions. But that’s not what John is doing. I’m going to tell you what I’d tell anyone else in your situation, Sherlock — you’re being abused. Once things escalate like this, they rarely get better. I want you to see someone, too, before you spend any more time with John.”  
“I’m already seeing someone.”  
“Not about this. I want you to speak to someone who treats victims of domestic violence. No, don’t give me that look. I’m calling it what it is. Now that it’s out in the open, maybe we can fix it.”

“But I provoked him…”  
“Sherlock, I’m not a counsellor. I don’t want to cock this up.” Lestrade pulls a card out of his folder and passes it to Sherlock, who takes it without examining it. “Please talk to her, okay? At least once? I am genuinely scared that the next time you do something John doesn’t like, he will kill you. He almost did this time, you know, if he hadn’t been restrained. That’s as per the witnesses. You know there is something seriously wrong when a serial killer saves your life.”

That seems to sink in. “I thought he’d stop once I was on the ground,” Sherlock whispers. “Just thought he’d get in a good punch or two.”  
Lestrade lets out a sigh of relief as he realises his words aren't falling on deaf ears. He pushes on. “I’m worried about Rosie, Sherlock. No, I don’t think John would hit her. But it’s usually true what they say about women marrying their fathers. I don’t want her to be raised by a man who will teach her it’s okay to treat vulnerable people like that. So if you can’t or won’t do this for yourself, do it for Rosie.”

When Sherlock looks up again, Lestrade isn’t surprised to see his eyes are filled with tears. He’s been through this before with Sherlock. He’s always been particularly fragile during the detox process as he’s unable to keep his mental barriers up. So he takes advantage of the moment to move closer and to pull Sherlock towards him. He’s wanted to do this since that god-awful afternoon at the aquarium. “John was right about one thing,” he murmurs. “You didn’t kill Mary. Any excuse would have done for Norbury to pull that trigger.”

Finally, a sob, and then Lestrade feels a patch of wet by his collarbone.

It might be what it is, but it doesn't mean it can't be better.  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of wish fulfillment on the author's part...

A few hours later, Lestrade returns to New Scotland Yard and heads down to the cells, where he is let into John’s. He’s sitting on the bench, legs pulled up against his chest, but he jumps to his feet when he sees his visitor.

“Just so it’s clear,” Lestrade says without preamble. “I pressed charges. Sherlock’s had no say in this.”  
John nods. “You did warn me.” He sounds resigned, not angry. This is better than Lestrade had expected. “So what now?”  
“You’ll be a guest of the Met tonight. Molly’s got Rosie. Tomorrow, you are going to be offered a choice.”  
“Okay.”  
“Prison or two years probation, anger management classes, and you stay the hell away from Sherlock until you complete that course. Then, supervised visits between the two of you with a counsellor to start. All that happens, this goes away. No record. You cock up just one of the steps or anything like this happens again and I will see that you do time.”  
John swallows heavily. “Right.”  
“Rosie deserves a better father figure.”  
John squeezes his eyes shut. “Yes, I get that.”  
“And Sherlock deserves a better best friend.”  
“No argument from me.”

Lestrade deflates. “You’re better. I’m glad that whatever happened, happened.”  
“Me too.” John sighs. “Guess this is what was missing. I hope Sherlock realises how lucky he is to have you as a friend. I know I do.”  
Lestrade wasn’t expecting that at all. “Wow. What got into you?”  
“I got a guardian angel,” John says cryptically. “Or maybe a better conscience.” He ignores Lestrade’s confused look. “I’ll be taking the second option, of course.”  
“Good. I’m going to take Rosie tomorrow after Molly, give you time to get settled back in at home, then drop her off in the morning.”  
“Okay. Ta. Can you make sure Sherlock gets to see her? He mentioned wanting to.”  
“Yeah, ‘course.”

***

Lestrade calls Sherlock late the next morning. “John’s been released. He agreed to the conditions of the offer.”  
“How was he?”  
“Very calm. Wasn’t surprised at all. I think he might actually be ready to change. We’ll give it a few weeks and then we’ll see about a supervised visit between you two.”  
“Supervised?”  
“Yes. By a counsellor. And me. I want to be there.  
“Um, okay. I, uh, I made an appointment with that woman. I’m seeing her tomorrow.”  
“Good. I’m glad. Thank you. Listen, Molly’s got Rosie right now, but I’m taking her overnight, to give John time to cool off. Would you like to see her this afternoon for a few hours?”  
“Yes, please!”  
“Right, then. Why don’t you come over to my place, more kid friendly, you know, and we can do tea.”  
“Okay. Does John — is John okay —“  
Lestrade understands. “He specifically asked that I let you see her.”  
“Oh. That’s good. I’ll, uh, I’ll bring Chinese?”  
“Ta, that’d be great.”

***

A couple of weeks later, the counsellor sets up the parameters for John and Sherlock’s first meeting. It will be unstructured, with his role only to intervene if the exchanges get too heated. Sherlock and John are both subdued. Lestrade is sitting by Sherlock. He and John have their own relationship to rebuild.

“Rosie loves that rag doll you got her. They’re inseparable,” John starts.  
“I’m glad. Thought it looked like her.”  
“Yeah.” John sighs heavily. “Well, might as well get on with it. I’ve had a lot of time to think.”  
“Yeah, me too.”  
“We have to go back to the roof, don’t we?”  
“Yes. I tried to send you away, you know.”  
“Yeah. I realise that now.” John leans back in his chair and sighs again. “Why have you done so much for me?”  
Sherlock catches John’s gaze. “I never had a friend like you before.”  
Embarrassed, John looks away. “Yeah, me neither.”  
“Can I get something out?”  
“Um, yeah, sure. Sorry.”

Sherlock takes a deep breath and starts speaking very quickly, almost in deduction mode. “I know I’m a cock sometimes and that I irritate you. Like, it was more than a bit not good that I was tweeting through Rosie’s christening, stupid as I still think the ritual is. I know I’ve belittled you more than once or twice and that’s not okay. But when it comes to the big stuff, me being there when you needed me, I’ve been there, I think. No, I know I have. This was the last time. I can’t go through detox again. I got lucky that my kidneys have recovered. I’ve got to stop playing with my health. I’ve accepted that I’ll never be enough for you and that I can’t keep risking my life to save you. What matters now is Rosie.” He pauses to take a breath and looks at John who nods for him to continue. “I want to take a child-minding course. Not the kind parents take; I don’t want that kind of responsibility. But I’d like to be able to take her some afternoons, maybe even a weekend, and know what I’m doing and be a proper godfather to her. If you’ll let me. Um, I’m done.”

John inhales as he gathers his thoughts. “Let’s go backwards. I can’t raise Rosie alone. If you want to take on serious responsibility, I will support that and promise never to put you down when you’re doing it. No, ‘Oh, there’s Sherlock, ha ha, he’s useless with kids’ the first time you come up to something you can’t handle. And that’s the other thing. If you want to grow up, I’ll let you. And I’m going to work on trusting you more. And I will never lay a hand on you again. I don’t expect you to believe that; I know I have a lot to make up for before you can trust me, but I promise. And you are good enough for me. My short comings are not a reflection of you.” He looks up to find Sherlock staring at him intently. “Uh, I think that’s it.”

The counsellor allows for a short pause and then speaks for the first time since the start of the session. “Sherlock, is there anything else you wanted to hear from John?”  
“No.”  
“John, from Sherlock?”  
“Uh, no.”  
“Greg, anything to say?”  
“John, how are you going to convince me that you’re not going to break Sherlock’s neck the next time he pisses you off? Because we know that’s going to happen.”  
“I’m going to work my anger plan and keep going to the group meetings.”  
“Sherlock, what are you going to do if John raises a fist to you again?”  
“Defend myself, whether that’s going into another room if I can or having to physically react. And I will call the police to report it.”  
“Will you?”  
“Well, I’ll call you.”  
“Okay. Guess that'll have to do.”

Lestrade's actually not satisfied, there was no actual apology after all, but it is what it is and what it is is better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter in no way absolves the actual John for his horrible behaviour. I can't imagine the writers ever properly addressing any of the issues with the character. So I wrote this for myself, still trying to be realistic because I don't think there could ever be a greater moment of catharsis between John and Sherlock than what happened at the end of TLD. That said, I couldn't have written this without that scene having happened. It was a huge breakthrough in John's character even if there's so much more work to be done.
> 
> Also, I am in no way qualified to write about therapy or counselling sessions, so none of this should be taken as an example of what would happen in real life.

**Author's Note:**

> I am seriously disturbed by how many people in this fandom can excuse THAT scene in The Lying Detective. Some of what Lestrade says in this is paraphrasing from an actual conversations that I have been privy to between detectives and domestic violence victims.


End file.
